Shayne Looper: Being political, remaining Christian

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Nov 2, 2018 at 8:42 AMNov 2, 2018 at 8:42 AM

This season of the year presents some people with a greater challenge for remaining true to their creed than any other. During the campaign season, it’s as if people have been issued a “Get Out of Ethics” card, a pass on behavior that fails to conform to their stated convictions. “Love your neighbor as yourself” is optional if your neighbor has the wrong bumper sticker on his car.

This year’s election season was supercharged by the Senate confirmation hearings for Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Everyone on Twitter seemed to have inside information about the decades-old actions and present-day character of the two principals. Who would have thought there were so many omniscient people? Humility, so valued in the Christian scriptures, was burned at the stake along with Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Judge Kavanaugh.

One could only conclude by the way people condemned Ford and Kavanaugh that they thought God had appointed them judge in his place. And that was only the beginning. We were propelled from the Senate confirmation hearings directly into the bitter war for state and national offices. Social media has become a public gallows, and nearly everyone brings a rope to the party.

They not only bring a rope for politicians but for the people who dare to support them. I am not an admirer of the president, but I know people who are — good people whom I love and respect. To condemn everyone who speaks favorably of President Trump and his policies or to label them racists is itself an unmitigated display of prejudice.

Of course it works the other way too. To label a progressive as a communist or call someone un-American because he or she favors a more open posture toward immigration is inaccurate and ethically dubious.

Prejudice, whether on the part of Democrats or Republicans, conservatives or liberals, reveals a lack of charity and an unwillingness to understand others. Everyone knows and loves someone whose views seem wrongheaded and unacceptable. Sometimes that person is a close relative or a long-time friend. We think well of the person, even though we dislike his or her views.

Is it asking too much to do the same with people we don’t know — the people we come across on social media or see interviewed on television? Can’t we believe that they want what’s best even though they are, in our opinion, mistaken about how to achieve it? We must ask ourselves which is worse: To desire what is good but be mistaken about how to achieve it or to commit an actual evil — condemning people — to prevent a potential evil? Or could it be that we really believe everyone who holds a view contrary to our own is intentionally pursuing evil?

Jesus gave clear instruction regarding these things. “Do not judge,” he emphatically warned us, “or you too will be judged.” We have not listened. As the election season nears the finish line, judging others has become the national pastime. Of course, one act of judgment elicits another in return, as Jesus warned it would, though it’s not just human judgment we need to worry about.

Jesus also strictly prohibited the use of contempt to put others in their place or to put ourselves above them. Calling someone an “idiot” or a “fool” — even if it is about politics — puts one in a position of being judged by God. As Jesus put it, it places one “in danger of the fire of hell.”

If a person, particularly one who confesses faith in Jesus, is unable to control the temptation to think badly of others and publicly condemn them on social media, he or she should suspend their Facebook account and cancel their Twitter feeds, at least until after the election is over. If we are going to pray, “Lead us not into temptation,” we’d better not run headlong into it.

To resist condemning the people who disagree with us is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t go far enough. We need to go further — much further. Jesus taught his followers to love their enemies, pray for those who persecute them, and bless those who curse them. That’s the only way to be politically engaged and remain Christian at the same time.— Shayne Looper is the pastor of Lockwood Community Church in Branch County, Michigan. Read more at shaynelooper.com.

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